


Within Reach

by DearDarling



Category: X-Men (Movies), X-Men: First Class (2011) - Fandom
Genre: Action/Adventure, Angst, Angst and Fluff and Smut, Eventual Smut, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-08-07
Updated: 2014-08-07
Packaged: 2018-02-12 06:00:16
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 635
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2098281
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DearDarling/pseuds/DearDarling
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Eric has a need to claim what the government tries to hide from mutant kind. This leads to him needing Ravens help, meaning he unavoidably runs into Charles.<br/></p>
            </blockquote>





	Within Reach

**Author's Note:**

> Very very mild reference to self harm.

Charles lent back from his desk, sighing as he cast his eyes around the room. Logan had sent him an email moaning about his busy class schedule, but Charles knew it was just a force of habit, and Logan had kindled a love for teaching. It kept his mind busy, so he did not have to dwell on the past that gave him so much pain. It hurt Charles that his friends had suffered so much. For him, their experiences were almost his own, he could feel their emotions washing over him like waves. He tried to stay out of people’s heads, to respect their privacy, but when they were in pain it was as if they were screaming.

A sharp knock on the door awoke Charles from his thoughts.  
“Come in” he called. Raven strolled into his office with wavy blonde hair in a pair of stylishly tattered blue jeans. He smiled. He had not been expecting her to visit him so soon today. Raven had, of course, originally left with Eric, she was a social outcast, she felt isolated by her mutation, but she had missed Charles, and sought to help those with similar issues to her own. That was what she told anyone who cared to ask, but truly she just couldn't allow Charles to lose both her and Eric. If she was honest with herself she could admit that the lifestyle at Charles school could never suit her anymore.  
“Raven, how are you?” Charles spoke, eternally polite and friendly, despite his exhaustion.  
“I’m fine, how are you?” Charles was the priority, the reason she had returned was to monitor and protect his happiness.  
“I’m good, I've just been sorting through some emails” he replied, and they continued with similar idle chit chat for around fifteen minutes before Raven excused herself to leave Charles to his work, and returned to her room.

***

Raven clawed at her skin wishing she could shed it like a snake. How people envied her ability to change form, to look as she wished, at any time, with so little effort. But underneath her changeable skin was not a set of shiny new scales, but an ugly blue monster, covered in lumps and bumps which no one wished to see. She pushed her head against the cool window overlooking the grounds with Charles young mutants frolicking in the bushes. She project a sea of calm and serenity, but inside her emotions raged like a storm cloud. Her heart ached for something unknown, something she could not reach.  
At least when she had been with Eric, running around under the guise of mystique, she had been able to fill the void inside herself with action and punishing those who threatened her. She had a cause, a reason. She had been making the world a better place for people like her. She was accepted, even appreciated, if only for her mutation. Now she had nothing. No way to channel her emotions. No control. Raven collapsed onto her pillow, felling the familiar edge of her wooden box under her pillow, the only release she had available.

***

Eric was fulfilling his dream, his purpose. He traveled across the country seeking the most talented mutants, and offering them the release they craved, joining him. They were powerful. They could do as they pleased. They were slowly and surely growing in numbers, and soon, they would strike. They were the next stage of human evolution. It was time they claimed their rightful place. Then, Charles would see how much better they had made the world. Of course, he loved his school, Eric could allow that to continue, training young mutants could only be useful. No mutant would suffer the childhood he had suffered. They would be accepted. And he and Charles would ensure that.

***

**Author's Note:**

> Feedback and Comments always welcome!


End file.
